Slowing Cancer Metabolism

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts are exploring new cancer drugs that work to slow or block cancer metabolism, effectively starving cancer cells to death. According to their study, the scientists identified a new way that such cells speed up their metabolism and divert energy to new cell creation. They are developing new drugs that slow or block this alternate mechanism to fight cancer.

Professor Matthew Vander Heiden of MIT’s new David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, focused their research on the way cells convert sugar into energy. (Source: MIT)

The group, led by Professor Matthew Vander Heiden of MIT’s new David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, focused their research on the way cells convert sugar into energy. Normal cells convert glucose into energy in two stages, glycolysis and extraction. Glycolysis converts glucose into energy while extraction forms that energy into packets called ATP which are used to power normal cell functions. Cancer cells only perform glycolysis and do not complete the second stage of the standard process. This study examines glycolysis and how it differs for cancerous cells compared to regular cells.

The last stage of glycolysis converts a compound called PEP into an enzyme called pyruvate kinase or PKM. Previous research proved that cancer cells create a different form of this enzyme. Vander Heiden’s research shows that the conversion from PEP into the alternate form of PKM occurs at a slower rate than the similar process in normal cells. This leads to a buildup of excess PEP in the cells which activates another enzyme called PGAM which in turns triggers more glycolysis which in turn causes an even larger buildup of PEP, causing more glycolysis and so on in a feedback loop. The loop causes a buildup of other chemicals uses in the glycolysis process including a compound called 3-phosphoglycerate. This compound can initiate DNA production forming the basis of new cancer cells.

The team is experimenting with several drugs that make the PKM more active to circumvent the feedback loop and stop the growth of new cancer cells. These tests are in the very early stages of testing with laboratory mice and no results are available yet.

Janice Karin has a B.A in physics from the University of Chicago and a
M.S. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to
extensive experience as a technical writer focused on development
tools, databases, and APIs, Janice has worked as a freelance reporter,
editor, and reviewer with contributions to a variety of technology
websites. One of her primary focuses has been on PDAs and mobile
devices, but she is interested in many other areas of science and
technology.